Skin Deep
by IcedTeaa
Summary: Yeah, they were idiots. Yeah, they were stupid. Yeah, they were reckless. But they were best friends. And best friends don't let best friends be stupid reckless idiots alone. A collection of one-shots.
1. Bed Head

School grades were important. Or so everybody who wasn't Kendall Knight and a select other few thought.

School grades showed your intelligence, skill, determination, his teachers said. But then again, those were the same teachers who said that the creepy man from across the street wouldn't actually give them candy if they got into his car.

Pfffffffft. What did teachers know? Absolutely jack shit, Kendall thought smugly.

After all, who could ever dare question his pure genius after this? His intelligence, skill determination that his D-'s said he didn't have. (Who the fuck needed some stupid bit of paper with a letter on? Not him.)

How could he not have any? He was a fucking GOD, he decided, smiling at the image of his teachers burning to the ground, screeching furiously as his God-like skill burned them to dust. The dust would then blind all the non-believers, and they too would screech furiously as he bellowed in his all powerful voice to those who looked on with awe at his sheer awesome-ness, _"Go, spread the word of the God, Kendall Knight, and beat anyone with fish sticks who dares to object to your new ruler! Now bow down and surrender your children to me." _

Anyway. Kendall snapped out of his day dream, making a note to tell that one to Carlos later, as screen popped up on his laptop to inform him that his uploads had been successful.

Excellent.

His cursor hovered over the 'log off' button as he prepared to shut down the machine with a look of glee in his green eyes, when suddenly, another unexpected wave of genius hit.

He'd have to update his status from God to- he didn't even know because he'd have to find something better than God because he was amazing for thinking of _this. _

Clicking the cancel button, he quickly opened up a new internet page, and logged on to his email faster than one could say 'pudding'. Ignoring all the spam clogged up in his inbox (Kendoll Night, did you know you have been specially selected and are now entitled to $145231.73?) and opened a new email, tagging everyone in his contacts list.

Letting his fingers spaz over the keyboard for a few seconds, typing in a random message containing illiterate jumbled up letters, and ignoring spell check when it told him that '' wasn't a word.

Attaching image…

Kendall's fingers drummed on the sleek black laptop, humming a tune that vaguely sounded something along the lines of Eastenders, (his _secret_ obsession). His excitement only grew when his laptop confirmed that his image had been attached, as he quickly scrolled over to the 'send' button.

He hesitated for a moment. Was this really the right thing to? Was it really worth it?

Fuck yes.

The blonde seventeen year old quickly silenced his 'Inner Logan' smirking and silently congratulating himself on his brilliance.

Sending the email and closing the laptop, the tall teen stretched out, much like a cat on his bed, before rising and exiting his shared room with James. Deciding he needed to treat himself to a pudding cup, as a reward for being so fucking clever.

Strolling through the kitchen, he saw Logan sprawled out on the bright orange sofa, one arm lazily dangling from the sofa grasping the remote, the other holding a medical dictionary. He was reading it, but every now again his eyes would flicker to the large T.V on the wall where a hockey game was playing.

Plopping down next to him with a smirk, Kendall's eyes were immediately drawn to the screen, as he took in the score, and glued his eyes to watching the puck fly down the rink.

Noticing his smirk, Logan raised a eyebrow and sighed.

"What have you done?" He drawled out, chocolate brown eyes looking at him expectantly.

Putting on a mock-hurt expression, the blonde teen placed a hand over his heart dramatically.

"Ouch. That hurt," Logan's expression remained unchanged, so Kendall rolled his eyes and sighed loudly. "I haven't done anything."

"Bullshit."

"Nice to know you think so highly of me," Kendall laughed from his seat, shoving another mouthful of pudding into his mouth.

"Well you've got that look on your face which tells me you've most defiantly done something. Probably won't be good, and knowing you it has something to do with the fact that you're a evil person. A _bored _evil person."

"Reeeeeelax Logie! I didn't do anything at all, swear down. To you anyway…" Kendall trailed off, finishing off his pudding cup and resuming back to watching the game.

"Oh God. That means I'll have to either put up with Carlos whining or James screaming. I'm not sure which is worst," The spiky haired teen pondered, before a vibrating in his pocket made him take out his phone.

Kendall grinned.

Sitting up, Logan's slightly tired eyes widened instantly as he opened the new email.

"Oh my Christ, you're insane. You're going to die."

Laughing hysterically, Kendall leaned over to look at the image on Logan's phone.

"Isn't it glorious?"

"Shouldn't you be hiding? Or running? What made you do this?" Logan cried, looking over to his slightly mental friend.

"I was bored," He shrugged, smile still spread all over his face.

"DUDE. You're going to die," a voice called out from across the room, where Carlos had popped his head out of his bedroom door, holding his own phone. Bounding over to the sofa, the Latino boy looked nervously over to the door. "I'd be going if I were you…"

"Chill, guys, there's no need to worry, I-"

Suddenly, the door to their apartment slammed open. The three boys jumped, and in a blink of a eye, a very pissed off James stood in the doorway, glaring at Kendall with death written in eyes.

"Shit."

Kendall quickly catapulted himself from the sofa, desperately trying to escape the wrath of the sandy-haired boy.

"I'M FUCKING GOING TO DESTROY YOU."

Logan and Carlos watched with interest as the two boys ran circles around the apartment, knocking over a number of items. Wincing when a practically loud crash sounded through the living room, Logan turned back to Carlos.

"So. Wanna watch The Lion King?"

"Fuck yeah."

Turning over the T.V and ignoring the fight going on in the background, they returned their gaze back to flat screen on the wall as Simba emerged onto the screen.

By this time James had caught up to Kendall and had pounced, sending him crashing to the floor. They continued to wrestle through the first half of the movie, insults and fists flying.

"Fucking jerk!"

"You started it!"

"No you did!"

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did!"

"No I didn't!"

"Fuck you!"

"Get off!"

"Make me!"

Meanwhile, laying forgotten on the sofa, Logan's phone still displayed the image which had now been tossed to the floor by Carlos.

The image was taken just that morning after all the boys had woken up. Kendall had indeed been bored, and had been playing with his phone, his fingers accidentally slid over the camera button. Looking at the screen which now showed the other end of the sofa he was sitting on, where James just so happened to be sat, he had suddenly had a stroke of genius.

Repositioning the phone so he had a better view, the blonde teen had snickered as he took it.

He had captured the perfect image of James.

The tall teen was curled up on the other end of the bright couch, wearing his zebra-stripped pyjamas and cradling a steaming cup of coffee to his chest. His sleepy eyes were partially closed, but the best part was his usually perfect hair. Ruffled from sleep and not yet styled for the day, he was unwittingly sporting a amazing case of bed head. To many people, this wouldn't have been a very big deal. Sure, maybe embarrassing, but to James, bed head was one of the worst things to ever be created. His hair had to be perfect at all times, so this was just fucking _sweet._

And now Kendall had captured it on camera.

And that very image had now been broadcast all over the Palm Woods.

And the internet.

Which was why James was currently beating the shit out of Kendall, and why Carlos and Logan were re-watching The Lion King again as they "didn't want to get involved" was how they explained the scene to a confused Mrs. Knight.

School grades were very important. Because if you had good ones, you'd probably of realized that taking that picture was a bad idea.

(But you might of done it anyway.)


	2. Naturally

A/N**: **Sort of just realized I forgot to include authors note in the first one. Whoops. Might fix that later.

BASICALLY. This is just a collection of one-shots about the BTR boys because I love them so. Angst, Hurt/Comfort, humour(ish because I fail), friendship...Just not romance or slash or shit because I really DO fail at that. Anyway, love to hear your suggestions for some? I run out of ideas very quickly because I am oh-so-creative.

This one is kinda suckish and short. Very sorry. And there is a lack of Kendall because he's a bitch and took over the first one. Meant to be centred more around Carlos and James, but Logan stole it and ran away with it at the end. I don't even know how.

Ok. I'll stop now. E.N.J.O.Y.

* * *

><p>Naturally, Logan did extremely well at school work. He was classed as 'extremely gifted' which basically meant he was a lot smarter then everybody else.<p>

Things that were hard for others came easy to Logan. That algebra homework? Done. Science test? A*. The answer to number nine? He's on a different worksheet already.

He didn't like to rub it in to everyone, so he used his abilities to try to help the, um, less gifted members of the band.

Kendall was alright in school work. He wasn't in the same league as Logan (nobody was), but he wasn't failing either. Mostly he could manage C's if he actually focused and did any work, maybe even B's if he put effort in. Which was fine by him.

Unfortunately for Carlos and James, they happened to be shoved in the 'less gifted' section. They weren't stupid, but things that Logan and sometimes Kendall could understand quite easily, if not with a bit of guidance, made them want to pull out their hair.

Logan tried to help, he really did. But in the end he just complicated things more, and neither Carlos nor James had the patience to deal with Logan ranting on about things that proved to just confuse them more and made them feel even stupider.

Kendall meanwhile, did not have the patience to deal with them. If they didn't get it the first time he explained it, then fuck it, it wasn't his fault. Just the annoying questions made him want to go slit his wrists and cry tears of blood.

Carlos and James were not failing school though. They were passing with C's, much like Kendall.

It just took them the extra work.

On top of the immense pressure to become a successful band, they also had the immense pressure to succeed in school.

They couldn't just leave their homework to the last minute. It took them a few hours to make head or tail of it and actually work it out.

They couldn't just walk into a test with no revision. They had to stay up all night studying and scrawling down notes.

They had to work for it.

It easily annoyed the boys when they were stuck in dumb classes, doing colour by numbers and writing stories about their favourite sweets. Logan had already started his exams, Kendall wasn't far off, and they were sat in a classroom with a teacher still reminding the kids not to eat the glue.

The teachers saw them as a lost cause, only paying attention to the kids that really deserved their time as they saw it. The smart kids, the ones with a future. The system gave up on Carlos and James far too quickly, along with a the others who were shoved under the same label as them.

Carlos and James sat back and watched sadly as the other 'stupid' kids started to rebel, turning to drink and drugs, not caring about their future if their grades said they didn't have one.

And it was upsetting to watch, because the once good and happy kids had been left behind by the educational system, causing them to turn into the sort of stereotypical teenage rebel. The sort that would probably tell you to 'fuck off' if you asked them if they'd done their homework.

Determination saw Carlos and James through that.

Driven by the will to prove their teachers wrong, they sacrificed what little free time they had and threw themselves into their work. You could often find the two boys sat at the kitchen table in the dead of the night, in complete silence, eyes glued to a text book. The quiet was only broken by the soft beat of their pens scribbling things down.

Logan and Kendall watched admiringly, with small smiles and sad eyes before going to bed, as they had band practise at 7:00 a.m sharp the next morning. So did Carlos and James.

But that didn't stop them from studying until well past 3 in the morning.

So when Mrs. Knight quietly creaked open the door of their small apartment after a late night work shift, it didn't surprise her to find the two boys, utterly exhausted and sound asleep on the couch.

She stared for a few moments in frustration. They shouldn't have to do this, it wasn't fair on them. But after heaving a sigh, she realized there was little she could do, and although it was extremely frustrating, she couldn't help the bubble of pride that popped in her heart.

Carlos was leant against James, dark circles ringed under his closed eyelids, from obvious lack of sleep. A textbook lay forgotten in his lap, pages and pages of science and maths spread all around him. He looked so very tired, and it was extremely un-Carlos-like for him not to be buzzing with energy. It made the mother of two (five really) furious to see him like that, because Carlos was always supposed to be bouncing off the walls, not sapped of life.

James was sprawled out on the couch, somewhat supporting Carlos and providing a body-pillow. (Which Mrs. Knight thought was absolutely sweet of him to do, because she knew he probably had stayed up to make sure Carols was comfortable.) He didn't sport extreme dark circles like Carlos, but appeared to have lost some weight judging by the way the once tight-fit t-shirt now loosely hung from his frame. Her fury only increased when she noticed this, taking in the way his arm dangled from the bright sofa, trying to grasp the pencil that had fallen to the floor. She was surprised at the amount of notes that lay around him, his neat hand writing looping and swirling all over the millions of scraps of paper. She did have a little giggle at his hair though, which was madly stuck up.

Glancing at the digital clock on the wall, Mrs. Knight groaned when she realized it was ten to four in the morning. Looking back to the boys, she realized with a startle that she simply didn't have the heart to wake them up.

So, instead, she dug around in the cupboards, finding a few spare blankets and two pillows. Quietly as possible, she crept around the sleeping boys and gently laid the cotton blankets over them. After making sure Carlos and James each had a blanket wrapped around them, she gently lifted each boys head a placed a pillow underneath it, lowering their heads back down steadily as not to disturb them.

Stepping back and admiring her handy work, Mrs. Knight felt a weight lift from her shoulders, as she watched Carlos snuggle further into his pillow subconsciously, and James pull his blanket further around his shoulders.

Kissing each boy on the forehead, she quietly whispered them good night before heading off to bed herself, turning around to begin to walk to her room-

-And had to stifle a scream of surprise at the sight of Logan leaning against the doorframe, watching.

"Oh my God, Logan, you scared me half to death!" Mrs. Knight whispered with a laugh and a deep breath, placing one hand over her heart.

"Sorry," He whispered back sheepishly, offering her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

Mrs. Knight studied him sceptically. From the way he had been leaning heavily on the doorframe, she suspected he had been there long before she entered. He thoughts were only confirmed when he tried to stifle a yawn, and failed miserably.

"Oh, Logan, how long have you been up?" She groaned with a frown.

"Not long!" He quickly defended. Too quickly. She gave him a stern look. "A few minutes, maybe?" He tried, a desperate fake smile sliding on to his face.

"Logan."

"I just wanted to make sure they were alright…" He mumbled, deep brown eyes downcast to the floor apologetically.

She tried to remain angry with him. But her heart just melted at the sight, and how could anyone stay angry at a boy trying to look out for his friends?

"I know you did," She whispered back, embracing the teen in a hug. "But this is something they have to do, Logan, you've got to understand that."

She felt his form shiver against her, as he replied in a sad voice, "Does that mean I can't do anything?"

"Of course you can, you can be there for them."

"B-but I can't even help them! I just mess it up more when I try, and I don't know what else to do!" He cried as quietly as he could, pulling back from her to look her straight in the eye.

"Shh, I know Logan, I know. But did it ever occur to you that maybe they want to do this on their own? Independently? To say they earned those grades, all by themselves and that they can say they've passed with their own intelligence?" She asked gently.

Logan didn't respond.

"Honestly, do you know what I think?" Mrs. Knight folded her arms.

"What?" The dark haired teen replied miserably.

"That you're helping them more than you think."

Logan stood completely still for a moment. He was? He didn't see how. His gaze was drawn back towards the two sleeping boys, blissfully unaware of everything going on around them, lost in their own little worlds.

"Really?"

"But do you know what won't help them? If they spend their study time worrying and fussing over you because you haven't got enough sleep! Now go on and shoo!" She laughed quietly, ushering him to his room.

"Wait, let me just check to see if they-"

"Goodnight Logan," She said in a stern but gentle voice, the type that only mothers could achieve. With a kiss on the forehead and a little wink, she pushed him down to his bed and left, but not before Logan could whisper a goodnight and a thank-you.

Long after Mrs. Knight had left, Logan stayed awake, staring at the empty bed beside him where Carlos should be. He might be wrong (but that was rare) but he imagined Kendall was doing the exact same thing.

His thoughts circled his head, making his brain hurt because he _really _wanted to sleep but he couldn't when he knew Carlos wasn't there. It felt wrong. Part of him longed to leap out of bed and drag the sleeping boy back in their room, but a bigger part of him said that wouldn't be fair on Carlos.

To disturb what little sleep the Latino got. Because Logan couldn't sleep. Selfish.

Maybe, just maybe, Logan was tired of feeling like he was holding them back. Maybe they didn't need his help. Maybe Mrs. Knight was right. They just wanted to do something independently.

And Logan wasn't going to argue with that.

So he turned over and told his brain to shut up before he bricked himself in the head. Closing his eyes for hopefully the last time that night, he let out a deep breath and slowly drifted of into the safe inky blackness of sleep.

* * *

><p><em>Scribble, scribble. Tap, chew. Think. Scribble. Tap.<em>

"_Do you want some help?" Gently, asking. Not forcing._

_Pause. Look up. _

"_No thanks, I think I've got it." Thank-you._

"_Okay, anything you need, just ask." You're welcome._

_Smile._

_Smile back. _


End file.
